This paper examines how motivations for school-board membership influence individual board member's agendas. It suggests the implications of individual agendas for board dynamics and superintendents when both must be accountable to state and federal mandates and their own district's desire to collaborate to improve academic achievement for all…

This document examines the implementation of the Schools Act, which established the democratic governing bodies and the school governance, capacity-building program in KwaZulu-Natal. It is based on a study that: (1) recorded the existence/nonexistence of governing bodies and compiled a profile of the average governing body based on a sample of…

Colleges and universities rely on faculty senates and similar governing units to build consensus and solve problems on campus creatively. As institutions rely on these governing bodies, the bodies themselves rely on presidents, chairs, and other faculty-developed leadership positions. This national study of faculty senate presidents was designed…

This paper discusses how to design useful research and scholarship on higher education governance, trusteeship, and the academic presidency, proposing radically altered decision making mechanisms and several research approaches derived from the humanities and social sciences. The paper describes the world into which today's graduates are moving,…

Educational reformers tend to see teachers as passive consumers of innovations, while teachers view themselves as powerful, active, and autonomous in the classroom. Reform efforts have created the conditions for a power struggle over curriculum implementation. Future efforts must take into account these power relationships. (PP)

Current research data provide only weak support for the continued use of multidisciplinary teams (MDTs). It is argued that MDTs have not had a fair chance to be implemented and that the complexity of organizational changes needed for MDTs to function effectively have been overlooked by team members and administrators. (Author/PN)

Nonprofessional employees in three administrative units at a comprehensive eastern university served as subjects in a study to examine the relationships of perceived participation in decision making, communication with supervisor, employee characteristics, and employee job satisfaction. Implications for personnel decisions and training, employee…

A management planning model developed by Furman University is described. The model is a decentralized participative approach to institutional governance that stresses decision-making based on use of appropriate research and allocation of resources based on management by objectives. (MLW)

H. S. Bhola's models of planned change can contribute to the understanding of change processes and clarify the role of power in change. They do not, however, deal with problems such as resource dependency, which educational administrators face. Attitudes may interfere with acceptance of the models. (PP)

Outlines findings from a study of four western Canadian provinces that compared teachers', administrators', and school boards' perceived control over educational decision making in 32 areas. Educational decision making was found to be somewhat decentralized, but only in deciding grades do teachers hold the highest degree of control. (Author/WD)

A study testing four hypotheses that investigated various relationships existing between satisfaction obtained from interpersonal relationships, disposition toward superordinate/subordinate interpersonal participation and opinion about literature defined participative processes of management by objectives (MBO) is discussed. Subjects were 85 deans…

The real-life drama 25 years ago when Apollo 13 was rescued through a collaborative team of colleagues provides a model for changes in many public schools. In Texas, the state code specifies that site-based decision making address planning, budgeting, curriculum staffing patterns, staff development, and school organization. (MLF)

A program to develop culturally appropriate child and family service standards in First Nations communities was evaluated. Process and outcome benefits were achieved through multiple focus group interviews and using a feedback and data consultation stage to involve community residents. (SLD)

The author arrived at the Delta Principals Institute with low expectations and the same obstacles facing other principals from poverty-stricken areas: poor student achievement, staff apathy, lack of parental support, superannuated curricula, and poor community support. There he learned how to overcome these obstacles by using a more participative…

This study characterized individual advocacy performance differences of 3 individuals with developmental disabilities and 21 parents before and after participating in training programs called Partners in Policymaking. A three group taxonomy of advocate development (beginner, involved, and activist) is suggested. (DB)